Welcome To Across Pittsburgh

Across Pittsburgh is more than a Facebook page and greater than a Google search. Though you will find similar information on both platforms, they are missing the heartbeat of a people-centered website dedicated to one area in the Universe called Pittsburgh, PA.

 We endeavor to be something more than an algorithm and a search results page, a like, a share, a swipe right or left, and a tweet. We are a website dedicated to the people across the communities of Pittsburgh, the promotion of its brick-and-mortar businesses, and the recognition of its people who call the following communities home in Pittsburgh:

Essentially, we are the communities in and around Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania's 412 area. 

Premier Guide For Pittsburgh & The Great 412

Our content strives to NOT be crowd-sourced. That is we don't just post anything here, even comments and reviews. Unlike other websites, so-called user reviews on Across North Hills are reviewed by our staff for fairness. As such, this is not the place to beat up a restaurant because they got your order wrong. Sorry, but that stuff happens to the best. We are human after all and to be human is to error. Therefore, our criteria for posting a critical review of a business is fairness and we also will enable businesses who are premium members of our site to fully control their endorsements. Yes, if they don't want something on their listing, then it won't be there.  For non-premium members, our staff will judge the veracity and usefulness of endorsements.  

So what if a business does suck? Good question. There are certainly businesses that come and go and are unsavory in many regards. Well, you are the judge. If there are no endorsements for a business, then that should tell you something, right? Moreover, if we detect a pattern of bad reviews then we may pull the listing from our website at our sole discretion. We are here to primarily highlight the best businesses in and across Pittsburgh We endeavor to do that in an open trusted and transparent fashion.

Would you like to contribute to Across Pittsburgh - become a contributor!

We are looking for folks in the Pittsburgh area who would like to help build Across North Hills as a premier information resource for the businesses, organizations, and people of the North Hills. To do that, we need community-minded folks to contribute.  It does not pay money, but we will do our best to make it worth your while. 

• Occasional lunches, beers - economy permitting
• Gift cards, when we have them - profitability permitting
• Freely promote an organization or shop of your choice - available immediately 

There are other benefits too and we are happy to teach contributors new skills too. Contact us to learn more by clicking the button below to go to our contact form. 

Our Story - From Across Ross To Across North Hills To Across Pittsburgh

Sometime in the early 2000s, our founder and deputy editor, Matt De Reno, hammered up a sign on a telephone pool at the corner of Perry Highway and Highland Avenue (curiously, the telephone pool was located right outside the Highland Bar). A week or so later, he received an email from the local magisterial district judge. At first, Matt thought he had violated some kind of ordinance, but lo and behold, the judge was interested in getting his court information online and liked the idea of a community website. And, so AcrossRoss took shape.

Around 2014, Across Ross became a community-oriented hyperlocal news site, when a former North Hills Patch editor was looking for a new home to write hyperlocal news in the wake of Patch North Hills undergoing a downsize. So the former Patch editor and Matt De Reno started producing a hyperlocal news website. It drew lots of attention and was credited as the source of original news on local television outlets several times.

Unfortunately, while drawing over 55,000 unique visitors a month, news content is a hard business in which to make a buck (and still is today). Therefore, supporting AcrossRoss full-time was not sustainable. Today Matt De Reno is still trying to figure out how to keep AcrossRoss going. So, he decided to revisit the original purpose of creating a community website for the local people, only to expand it to the greater North Hills area of Pittsburgh.

This is how Across Ross is now Across North Hills and now Across Pittsburgh. And, the Across Pittsburgh story, well, that story is unfolding now and is yet to be written. 

Across Pittsburgh Is "A Site From Scratch" 

Across Pittsburgh is "A Site From Scratch", which means it is owned and produced by Scratch Writing, Inc., a Pennsylvania Subchapter S Corp. Scratch Writing, Inc. is owned and operated by Matt De Reno. Learn more about Scratch Writing at www.ScratchWriting.com.